Cable enclosure systems, plugs and methods for using the same

ABSTRACT

An enclosure system for receiving a cable includes an enclosure having an inner chamber and an open position exposing the inner chamber and a closed position covering the inner chamber. A cable receiving port in a wall of the enclosure extends along a longitudinal axis from outside of the enclosure into the inner chamber. The cable receiving port is configured to receive a cable therein when the cable is advanced axially into the port without rotation of the cable when the enclosure is in the closed position. A mating member is associated with the cable receiving port that limits rotation of the cable when the cable is advanced axially into the port. An axial retention member is associated with the cable receiving port that limits axial movement of the cable out of the port when the cable is advanced axially into the port to a lock position.

RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/542,392, filed Nov. 14, 2014, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/159,495 filed on Jun. 14, 2011, titled CABLEENCLOSURE SYSTEMS, PLUGS AND METHODS FOR USING THE SAME, now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 8,917,966, which claims priority to U.S. Ser. No.61/354,904, filed on Jun. 15, 2010, the disclosures of which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. To the extentappropriate, a claim of priority is made to each of the above disclosedapplications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to communication cable systems and, moreparticularly, to optical fiber clamping systems and methods for clampingoptical fibers with the same.

An extensive infrastructure supporting telecommunication has beendeveloped, traditionally based upon copper wire connections betweenindividual subscribers and telecommunications company networkdistribution points. More recently, much of the telecommunicationsnetwork infrastructure is being extended or replaced with an opticalfiber based communications network infrastructure. The carrying capacityand communication rate capabilities of such equipment may exceed thatprovided by conventional copper wired systems.

As such, fiber optic cables are widely used for telecommunicationsapplications where high information capacity, noise immunity and otheradvantages of optical fibers may be exploited. Fiber cable architecturesare emerging for connecting homes and/or business establishments, viaoptical fibers, to a central location. A trunk or main cable may berouted, for example, through a housing subdivision and small fiber count“drop cables” may be spliced to the main cable at predetermined spacedapart locations.

A typical main cable may be installed underground and have multiple dropcables connected thereto, each of a hundred feet or more. Each of thedrop cables, in turn, may be routed to an optical network unit (ONU)serving several homes. Information may then be transmitted optically tothe ONU, and into the home, via conventional copper cable technology,although it also has been proposed to extend optical fiber all the wayto the home rather than just to the ONU. Thus, the drop cables may servegroups of users, although other architectures may also employ a maincable and one or more drop cables connected thereto.

In addition to the optical fibers, a typical fiber optic cable mayinclude cable jacketing material, cable strength members and fibercontainment tubes. These three basic elements sometimes have differentproperties, such as different hardnesses, different stiffnesses, anddifferent coefficients of thermal expansion. It may be desirable in manysituations to limit or even prevent the cable jacketing and the cablestrength members from axial displacement relative to one another, and/orrelative to a cable enclosure or other device attached to the cable. Atypical situation in which the securing is desired is where an openinghas been made in the fiber optic cable for accessing the internaloptical fibers, and where a splice enclosure may be installed.

In some existing systems, the securing of the securing of an accessedportion of a fiber optic cable may be achieved by first removing thecable outer jacket in order to expose some length of the strengthmembers of the cable. The securing of the outer cable jacket istypically achieved by mechanically securing the outer cable jacket to asubstrate at a location where the cable jacket is intact, i.e., outsideof the region of the cable jacket that has been removed. This generallyallows a circumferential clamp, such as a hose clamp or the like, to betightened around the intact outer cable jacket, and then the clamp isattached to a substrate. In some cases, the clamp may be tightenedaround the full cable jacket and an extending element of the substrateso as to secure the cable outer jacket to the substrate. The cablestrength element(s) are typically clamped in another clamp device, whichis also attached to the substrate. This clamping may be achieved byvarious arrangements of screw actuated clamps and the like in order tobind down on and exert high forces upon the generally more rigid andharder strength member material. Thus, in combination, the clamping ofthe intact outer cable sheath to the substrate, and the clamping of theprotruding exposed strength member(s) to the substrate can limit or evenprevent displacement between the two, and can also serve as a means tojointly anchor the two to a device, such as a splice closure.

Generally, one reason for using two clamping mechanisms for the outercable sheath and the strength members is that the cable jacket isrelatively soft and, thus, usually requires a circumferential clamp thatspreads the load over a surface area so as to avoid excessive pointloading on the soft cable jacket material. The strength members areusually very hard materials, such as fiber glass or steel, and generallyrequire much higher point loading to secure them sufficiently.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to some embodiments of the present invention, an enclosuresystem for receiving a cable includes an enclosure having an innerchamber and an open position exposing the inner chamber and a closedposition covering the inner chamber. A cable receiving port in a wall ofthe enclosure extends along a longitudinal axis from outside of theenclosure into the inner chamber. The cable receiving port is configuredto receive a cable therein when the cable is advanced axially into theport without rotation of the cable when the enclosure is in the closedposition. A mating member is associated with the cable receiving portthat limits rotation of the cable when the cable is advanced axiallyinto the port. An axial retention member is associated with the cablereceiving port that limits axial movement of the cable out of the portwhen the cable is advanced axially into the port to a lock position.

In yet other embodiments, cable plugs for use with a cable to beinserted in an enclosure include a body member configured to receive thecable therein and having a sealing portion that is configured to form anenvironmental seal with a cable receiving port of the enclosure when thecable is advanced axially into the port. The cable plugs furtherincluded an anti-rotation member and an engagement member. Theanti-rotation member is configured to mate with a mating memberassociated with the cable receiving port to limit rotation of the cablewhen the cable is advanced axially into the port. The engagement memberis configured to mate with an axial retention member associated with thecable receiving port when the cable is advanced axially into the port tothe lock position to limit axial movement of the cable out of the port.

In yet other embodiments, methods of inserting a cable into an enclosureinclude surrounding at least a portion of a section of the cable with acable plug having an anti-rotation member and an engagement member. Thecable plug with the portion of the cable therein is inserted axiallyinto a cable receiving port of an enclosure to a lock position withoutrotating the cable plug or the cable. In the lock position, the portionof the cable extends into an inner chamber of the enclosure, the cableplug forms an environmental seal with the cable receiving port, theanti-rotation member mates with a mating member associated with thecable receiving port to limit rotation of the cable plug and theengagement member mates with an axial retention member associated withthe cable receiving port to limit axial movement of the cable plug andthe cable out of the cable receiving port.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an enclosure system according to someembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the enclosure system ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partially exploded view of the enclosure system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the plug shown in the embodiments ofFIG. 3 with an O-ring attached and without an O-ring.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the plug shown in the embodiments ofFIG. 4 on a fiber optic cable.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the enclosure system ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of the enclosure system ofFIG. 1.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are cross-sectional views of a portion of the enclosuresystem of FIG. 1 with a plug therein in a first position engaged with aretention spring.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the portion of the enclosure systemof FIG. 1 with the plug therein in a second position not engaged withthe retention spring.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which illustrativeembodiments of the invention are shown. In the drawings, the relativesizes of regions or features may be exaggerated for clarity. Thisinvention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and shouldnot be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather,these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thoroughand complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to thoseskilled in the art.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being“coupled” or “connected” to another element, it can be directly coupledor connected to the other element or intervening elements may also bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlycoupled” or “directly connected” to another element, there are nointervening elements present. Like numbers refer to like elementsthroughout.

In addition, spatially relative terms, such as “under”, “below”,“lower”, “over”, “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease ofdescription to describe one element or feature's relationship to anotherelement(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will beunderstood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompassdifferent orientations of the device in use or operation in addition tothe orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device inthe figures is turned over, elements described as “under” or “beneath”other elements or features would then be oriented “overt” the otherelements or features. Thus, the exemplary term “under” can encompassboth an orientation of over and under. The device may be otherwiseoriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatiallyrelative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein the expression“and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of this disclosure and therelevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overlyformal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

The description below references enclosing a portion of a fiber opticcable to a closure device and securing the closure device with respectto the cable portion. The referenced fiber optic cables may includemultiple optical fiber ribbons, a buffer tube, strength members, ajacket and a metal shield layer; however, according to otherembodiments, fiber optic cables of other constructions (e.g., a fiberoptic cable not having a metal shield layer) may be used withembodiments of the present invention.

As will be described further herein, some embodiments of the presentinvention provide an enclosure system for use with fiber optic cabling.The enclosure system may make it easier, for example, to access andsplice fibers running to living units or other customer locations.

In some embodiments, the closure system includes an enclosure includingsome and/or all of the following features. The closure system mayinclude an enclosure containing two or more entry and/or egress pointsfor fiber optic cables. The entry points may be used, for example, foran entering cable(s) (feeder), for exiting drop cable(s) and/or forexiting feeder (express) cable(s). In some embodiments, the enclosurehas an opening through which a splicer can access the internal area ofthe enclosure and perform splicing functions on various fibers. In someembodiments the enclosure includes port(s) configured to receivingmating plug(s), each of which may allow one or more fiber optic cablesto enter/exit the enclosure such that the cable(s) may be removed andre-inserted, while limiting or even preventing unwanted rotation and/oraxial displacement of the plug(s) relative to the enclosure.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference tothe attached figures. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an enclosuresystem according to some embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 2 isa perspective view of a portion of the enclosure system of FIG. 1. FIG.3 is a partially exploded view of the enclosure system of FIG. 1. FIG. 4is a perspective view of the plug shown in the embodiments of FIG. 3with an O-ring attached and without an O-ring. FIG. 5 is a perspectiveview of the plug shown in the embodiments of FIG. 4 on a fiber opticcable. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the enclosure systemof FIG. 1. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of the enclosuresystem of FIG. 1. FIGS. 8 and 9 are cross-sectional views of a portionof the enclosure system of FIG. 1 with a plug therein in a firstposition engaged with a retention spring. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectionalview of the portion of the enclosure system of FIG. 1 with the plugtherein in a second position not engaged with the retention spring.

FIGS. 1-3 illustrate embodiments of an enclosure system 50 including anenclosure 52 and a fiber optic cable 20 with a plug 30 on the endthereof inserted in a port 56 of the enclosure 52. While embodiments ofthe present invention will be described herein with reference to a fiberoptic cable 20, it will be understood that the present invention may beused with other types of cable that may be inserted into an enclosure.The enclosure 52 includes a cover member 54 and a base member 55 thatdefine an enclosed splice chamber 53 (FIG. 7). The cover member 54 maybe rotated or otherwise moved relative to the base member 55 to providea splice opening into the splice chamber 53 of the enclosure 52. Theport(s) 56 in the enclosure 52 are configured to receive the plug 30 andallow the entry or exit of the fiber optic cable 20 and/or its innercomponents 22 to the enclosed splice chamber 53. For example, the cable20 may be a flat fiber drop cable as shown in FIGS. 1-3, a central coretube 22, with the optical fiber(s) therein may extend through the plug30 into the splice chamber, an outer protective jacket 24 of the cable20 may terminate before entering the plug 30 and strength members 26 ofthe cable may extend into the plug and terminate therein. As such, theplug 30, shown as a substantially cylindrical plug 30 in FIGS. 1-3, maybe affixed to and surround the cable 20 or at least a portion of thecable on a section thereof. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, asection of the central core tube 22 of the cable 20 has the cable plug30 thereon at an end of the cable with the outer protective jacket 24 ofthe cable 20 removed to expose the core tube 22 and strength members 26.While in the illustrated embodiments, the cable plug 30 is shown affixedto the core tube 22 without contacting the outer protective jacket 24,it will be understood that the cable plug 30 could further extendaxially over a section of the cable 20 including the outer protectivejacket 24.

Embodiments of the cable plug 30 will now be further described withreference to

FIGS. 4 and 5. As seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cylindrical plug 30 mayseal to an inner bore (passageway) 57 of the port 56 with a conventional“0” ring 120. It will be understood that, as described herein, theO-ring 120 may slidably and sealingly engage the inner diameter of cablereceiving port 56 to form the environmental seal when the cable plug 30is in the cable receiving port 56 while allowing axial insertion of thecable plug 30 into the cable receiving port 56 without rotation thereof.It will further be understood that, in some embodiments, theenvironmental sealing between the cable plug 30 and the cable receivingport 56 may be provided without the use of an O-ring.

The cable plug 30 and cable receiving port 56 in some embodiments alsohave corresponding interlocking geometries which may limit or preventthe rotation of the plug 30 within the port 56 about the longitudinalaxis L of the plug 30 once the plug 30 is fully inserted into the port56 and/or corresponding retention members limiting or even preventingaxial movement (along the longitudinal axis L) of the plug 30 relativeto the enclosure 52 (i.e., to limit pullout movement of the plug 30) aswill be further described.

As seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the plug 30 includes a first (rear) section130, a second (intermediate) section 140 and a third (forward) section150 with an O-ring groove 122 between the second section 140 and thethird section 150 that is configured to receive an O-ring seal 120. Thefirst section 130 includes a plurality of grip members 132 that mayfacilitate manual grasping of the plug 30 during insertion of the plug30 into the port 56. The first section 130 in the illustratedembodiments of FIG. 4 further includes strength member receivingchannels 134 on respective sides thereof that, as seen in FIG. 5, areconfigured to receive and retain the respective strength members 26therein. While shown as substantially U-shaped channels in theillustrated embodiments, it will be understood that the channels 134 maybe partially or entirely enclosed passageways sized to receive thestrength members 26 enclosed therein. The strength members 26 are shownas abutting a front face 146 of the second section 140 in FIG. 5, whichmay provide for use of the front face 146 as a fixed axial stop pointfor the strength members 26 to limit or even prevent the strengthmembers 26 from passing into the inner chamber 53. It will beunderstood, however, while not shown in the figures, that a couplingmember may be provided with the plug 30 to mechanically fix the strengthmembers 26 to the plug and/or the strength members may be passed to theenclosure 52, either externally or internally of the plug 30, and bemechanically secured directly to the enclosure 52.

In some embodiments, the strength members 26 and the outer protectivejacket 24 are secured to the plug 30 by a heat shrink member, which mayhave adhesive therein. The heat shrink member may extend from the frontface 146 to an axial position extending over a portion of the jacket 24of the cable 20. When applied, the adhesive may flow over the enclosedsurface of the plug 30 and around the strength members 26 in thestrength member receiving channels 134 and the core tube 22. As such,the cable 20 may be mechanically coupled and environmentally sealed tothe plug 30.

The second section 140 includes the rotation limiting feature as will bedescribed for the illustrated embodiments of FIG. 4. An anti-rotationmember, shown as a protrusion 142, extends from a cylindrical portion144 of the second section. The illustrated cylindrical portion may besized to have an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of thepassageway 57 of the port 56. As such, contact between the front face ofthe port 56 and the cylindrical portion 144 may provide a hard stoppoint limiting further axial insertion of the plug 30 into the port 56.Similarly, the protrusion 142 is shown as having a larger outer diameterthan the inner diameter of the passageway 57.

The corresponding mating member 59 of the port 56 that receives theprotrusion 142 for some embodiments is shown in FIG. 6. Moreparticularly, a cutaway 59 defined in a wall 58 of the port 56 is sizedto allow insertion of the protrusion 142 therein when the plug 30 isinserted into the port 56. For the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 4-6,two protrusions 142 are provided on respective sides of the plug 30 withcorresponding mating cutaways 59 on the respective sides of the port 56that define a rotational orientation of the plug 30 when inserted in theport 56. Where the cutaways 59 are configured to conformally receive theprotrusions 142 (i.e., have a width approaching an interference fit witha width of the protrusions 142), the cutaways may substantially preventany rotation of the cable plug 30. As the cable 20 or at least a portionthereof is affixed to the cable plug 30, limiting rotation of the cableplug 30 limits rotation of the cable 20.

As discussed above, in some embodiments, the plug 30 and the port 56also include mating features that may limit or even prevent axial(pullout) movement between plug 30 and port 56 along the axis L of theport 56 once the plug 30 is inserted at least a selected distance intothe port 56. More particularly, for the embodiments illustrated in FIGS.4 and 5, the third section 150 of the plug 30 includes a springengagement member 152, shown as a slot in FIG. 4. The axial movementlimit aspects of some embodiments of the present invention will now befurther described with reference to FIGS. 7-10.

As seen in FIGS. 7-10, an end of the port 56 proximate and extendinginto the splice chamber 53 includes an axial retention member 180. Theaxial retention member 180 in the illustrated embodiments includes aretention spring 200 and an actuator tab 300. The retention spring 200is positioned in a chamber 210 in a wall of the base member 55 of theenclosure 52. The illustrated retention spring 200 is a generally V-shaped spring with a retaining tab 204 extending from one end theV-shaped section. As seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, the retaining tab 204 of theretention spring 200 is received in the slot 152 of the third section150 of the plug 30 when the plug 30 is inserted in the port 56. The baseof the V-shape end 202 of the retention spring 202 is received in achannel 302 of the actuator tab 300. As such, as seen in FIG. 10, whenthe actuator tab 300 is moved in a direction D, for example, by anoperator grasping a gripper end 304 of the actuator tab 300 that extendsinto the chamber 53 and moving the gripper end 304 in the direction D tothe position shown in FIG. 9, an opposite, actuation end 306 of theactuator tab 300 compresses the V-shape of the retention spring 200 intoa substantially U-shape, thereby removing the retaining tab 204 of theretention spring 200 from the engagement slot 152 of the plug of theplug 30 to allow axial movement and removal of the plug 30 from the port56. As such, an operator with access to the chamber 53 may manuallyactuate the actuator tab 300 to remove an installed plug 30 from theenclosure 52.

In some embodiments, the plug 30 may be inserted into the port 56without actuating the release actuator tab 300. The retention spring 200as illustrated may have an angled bias allowing the plug 30 to push theretention spring 200 out of the way when being inserted and then to snapinto the engagement slot 152 when fully seated in the port 56. Theangled bias may prevent the plug 30 from moving the retention spring 200and limit or even prevent withdrawal of the plug 30 from the port 56without actuation of the release actuator tab 300.

As described above, some embodiments of the present invention mayaddress two potential problems of fiber optic cable enclosures. Thefirst problem is that, when cables enter an enclosure, they generallymust be prevented from rotating about their axes or else damage to thefibers can occur from excessive twisting. As most O-ring seals areusually round, and seal best when they are round, it is advantageous tohave a round plug and port in the O-ring sealing area, but thenadditional means generally is needed to prevent rotation. As describedabove, the mating features 142, 59 may limit or even prevent rotation.Furthermore, it is generally advantageous to have enclosures configuredto have multiple plugs and ports spaced very close to each other so asto have a dense space efficient array of ports. However, when such densespacing occurs there is generally not sufficient space between the portsto allow threaded retention between the plugs and the ports usingconventional threaded ring arrangements because there is not enoughfinger space between to allow rotation of threaded rings or the like.Such can be seen, for example, in FIG. 1 where the enclosure 52 is shownwith nine generally closely positioned ports 56. Therefore an improvedmethod as described above is to provide a plug that is pushed along itsaxis into the port and to have a snap lock arrangement to perform thefunction of axial retention. This way the operator can push the plug bygripping the cable further away from the plug itself where there isadequate room for gripping and thrust it into the port to engage thesnap lock mechanism. This may allow a much denser array of ports, suchas the exemplary array of nine ports seen in FIG. 1, where the spacingbetween ports is less than an inner diameter of the ports.

As such, some embodiments of the present invention provide an enclosuresystem that includes a combination of anti-rotation and push-in snapretention and release into one device. With one hand, the operator caninsert the plug into the port and achieve pullout and anti-rotationretention without having to actuate any other parts. Such a method ofinsertion of a fiber optic cable into an enclosure may be carried outwhile only requiring the use of one hand of the operator. In addition,the illustrated embodiments further provide an improved releasemechanism for when the operator wants to withdraw a plug from the port.To do this, a single release tab may be actuated. The foregoing isillustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed aslimiting thereof.

In some embodiments, the enclosure system further includes a cable plug.The cable plug includes a body member configured to receive the cabletherein and having a sealing portion that is configured to form anenvironmental seal with the cable receiving port when the cable isadvanced axially into the port. The cable plug further includes andanti-rotation member and an engagement member. The anti-rotation memberis configured to mate with the mating member associated with the cablereceiving port to limit rotation of the cable plug when the cable isadvanced axially into the port. The engagement member is configured tomate with the axial retention member associated with the cable receivingport when the cable is advanced axially into the port to the lockposition to limit axial movement of the cable out of the port.

In other embodiments, the body member includes a substantiallycylindrical portion that is received in the cable receiving port. Thecylindrical portion has an outer diameter that is less than an innerdiameter of the cable receiving port. The anti-rotation member of thecable plug is a protrusion on the cylindrical portion that has an outerdiameter that is greater than the inner diameter of the cable receivingport. The mating member associated with the cable receiving port is acutaway of the cable receiving port that has an outer diameter greaterthan the outer diameter of the protrusion. The protrusion is received inthe cutaway when the plug is in the lock position to limit rotationalmovement of the plug. The engagement member is a transverse slot in thecylindrical portion of the body member at an end proximate the innerchamber when the plug is in the cable receiving port.

In further embodiments, the axial retention member includes a retentionspring and a manually actuable actuator tab. The retention spring ismovably mounted to the enclosure and has an engaged position and areleased position. The retention spring has a retaining tab at an endthereof that is positioned to be received in the transverse slot in thebody member when the plug is advanced axially into the port to thelocked position and the retention spring is in the engaged position tolimit axial movement of the plug and cable out of the port. The manuallyactuable actuator tab is operably coupled to the retention spring andhas a first position in which the retention spring is free to move toits engaged position and a second position in which the actuator tabholds the retention spring in its released position with the retainingtab removed from the transverse slot to allow the plug and cable to bemoved axially out of the port. In other embodiments, the sealing portionof the body member is an O-ring extending around the cylindrical portionof the body member that slidably and sealingly engages the innerdiameter of cable receiving port to form the environmental seal when theplug is in the cable receiving port. The cable may be a fiber opticcable having a lengthwise cable axis and including a plurality ofoptical fibers, a strength member and a tube surrounding the opticalfibers. The body member may be configured to surround the tube and thebody member may further include a channel configured to receive andretain the strength member. The channel may include an inner end that isconfigured to limit movement of the strength member into the innerchamber. The body member may further include a grip member positioned tofacilitate manual grasping of the plug during insertion of the plug intothe port.

In further embodiments, the cable receiving port has an inner diameterand the enclosure includes a plurality of cable receiving ports in thewall of the enclosure and displaced from each other by a distance lessthan the inner diameter.

In other embodiments, the axial retention member includes a retentionspring and a manually actuable actuator tab. The retention spring ismovably mounted to the enclosure and has an engaged position and areleased position. The retention spring has a retaining tab at an endthereof that is positioned to be received in an engagement member of aplug surrounding the cable when the cable with the plug thereon isadvanced axially into the port to the locked position and the retentionspring is in the engaged position to limit axial movement of the plugand cable out of the port. The manually actuable actuator tab isoperably coupled to the retention spring and has a first position inwhich the retention spring is free to move to its engaged position and asecond position in which the actuator tab holds the retention spring inits released position with the retaining tab removed from the engagementmember to allow the plug and cable to be moved axially out of the port.

In further embodiments, the retention spring is a generally V -shapedspring positioned in a chamber in the wall of the enclosure proximatethe cable receiving port. The actuator tab is pivotally coupled to thewall and has a first end in the chamber in the wall and contacting theV-shaped spring and a second, opposite end extending into and accessiblefrom the inner chamber. Rotation of the second end from a rest positionto an activated position compresses the V-shaped spring into asubstantially U-shape to displace the retaining tab of the retentionspring away from a centerline of the cable receiving port. The matingmember associated with the cable receiving port may be a cutaway of thecable receiving port configured to receive an anti-rotation member of aplug surrounding the cable when the cable with the plug thereon isadvanced axially into the cable receiving port. The enclosure and theactuator tab may be plastic and the retention spring may be metal. Thecable receiving port may be a plurality of cable receiving ports in thewall of the enclosure. The chamber in the wall may be a plurality ofchambers in the wall associated with respective ones of the cablereceiving ports. The plurality of chambers in the wall may be in aremovable section of the wall that is positioned in the inner chamber ofthe enclosure.

In other embodiments, the body member includes a substantiallycylindrical portion that is received in the cable receiving port. Thecylindrical portion has an outer diameter that is less than an innerdiameter of the cable receiving port. The anti-rotation member of thecable plug is a protrusion on the cylindrical portion that has an outerdiameter that is greater than the inner diameter of the cable receivingport. The mating member associated with the cable receiving port is acutaway of the cable receiving port that has an outer diameter greaterthan the outer diameter of the protrusion. The protrusion is configuredto be conformally received in the cutaway when the plug is in the lockposition to limit rotational movement of the plug. The engagement memberis a transverse slot in the cylindrical portion of the body member at anend proximate an inner chamber of the enclosure when the plug is in thecable receiving port.

In further embodiments of the cable plug, the sealing portion of thebody member is an O-ring extending around the cylindrical portion of thebody member that slidably and sealingly engages the inner diameter ofcable receiving port to form the environmental seal when the plug is inthe cable receiving port. The cable may be a fiber optic cable that hasa lengthwise cable axis and includes a plurality of optical fibers, astrength member and a tube surrounding the optical fibers. The bodymember may be configured to surround the tube and the body member mayfurther include a channel configured to receive and retain the strengthmember. The channel may include an inner end that is configured to limitmovement of the strength member into the inner chamber and the bodymember may further include a grip member positioned to facilitate manualgrasping of the plug during insertion of the plug into the port. Thecable may be mechanically coupled and environmentally sealed to theplug.

Although a few exemplary embodiments of this invention have beendescribed, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that manymodifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments withoutmaterially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of thisinvention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to beincluded within the scope of this invention. Therefore, it is to beunderstood that the foregoing is illustrative of the present inventionand is not to be construed as limited to the specific embodimentsdisclosed, and that modifications to the disclosed embodiments, as wellas other embodiments, are intended to be included within the scope ofthe invention.

That which is claimed is:
 1. An enclosure system for receiving a cable,comprising: an enclosure having an inner chamber and an open positionexposing the inner chamber and a closed position covering the innerchamber; a cable receiving port in a wall of the enclosure and extendingalong a longitudinal axis from outside of the enclosure into the innerchamber, wherein the cable receiving port is configured to receive acable therein when the cable is advanced axially into the port withoutrotation of the cable when the enclosure is in the closed position; amating member associated with the cable receiving port that limitsrotation of the cable when the cable is advanced axially into the port;and an axial retention member associated with the cable receiving portthat limits axial movement of the cable out of the port when the cableis advanced axially into the port to a lock position.
 2. The enclosuresystem of claim 1, further comprising a cable plug, wherein the cableplug comprises: a body member configured to receive the cable thereinand having a sealing portion that is configured to form an environmentalseal with the cable receiving port when the cable is advanced axiallyinto the port; an anti-rotation member that is configured to mate withthe mating member associated with the cable receiving port to limitrotation of the cable plug when the cable is advanced axially into theport; and an engagement member that is configured to mate with the axialretention member associated with the cable receiving port when the cableis advanced axially into the port to the lock position to limit axialmovement of the cable out of the port.
 3. The enclosure system of claim2, wherein the body member includes a substantially cylindrical portionthat is received in the cable receiving port, wherein the cylindricalportion has an outer diameter that is less than an inner diameter of thecable receiving port and wherein the anti-rotation member of the cableplug comprises a protrusion on the cylindrical portion that has an outerdiameter that is greater than the inner diameter of the cable receivingport and wherein the mating member associated with the cable receivingport comprises a cutaway of the cable receiving port that has an outerdiameter greater than the outer diameter of the protrusion, wherein theprotrusion is received in the cutaway when the plug is in the lockposition to limit rotational movement of the plug and wherein theengagement member comprises a transverse slot in the cylindrical portionof the body member at an end proximate the inner chamber when the plugis in the cable receiving port.
 4. The enclosure system of claim 3,wherein the axial retention member comprises: a retention spring movablymounted to the enclosure having an engaged position and a releasedposition, wherein the retention spring has a retaining tab at an endthereof that is positioned to be received in the transverse slot in thebody member when the plug is advanced axially into the port to thelocked position and the retention spring is in the engaged position tolimit axial movement of the plug and cable out of the port; and amanually actuable actuator tab operably coupled to the retention springand having a first position in which the retention spring is free tomove to its engaged position and a second position in which the actuatortab holds the retention spring in its released position with theretaining tab removed from the transverse slot to allow the plug andcable to be moved axially out of the port.
 5. The enclosure system ofclaim 3, wherein the sealing portion of the body member comprises anO-ring extending around the cylindrical portion of the body member thatslidably and sealingly engages the inner diameter of cable receivingport to form the environmental seal when the plug is in the cablereceiving port.
 6. The enclosure system of claim 5, wherein the cablecomprises a fiber optic cable, the cable having a lengthwise cable axisand including a plurality of optical fibers, a strength member and atube surrounding the optical fibers and wherein the body member isconfigured to surround the tube and the body member further includes achannel configured to receive and retain the strength member.
 7. Theenclosure system of claim 6, wherein the channel includes an inner endthat is configured to limit movement of the strength member into theinner chamber and wherein the body member further comprises a gripmember positioned to facilitate manual grasping of the plug duringinsertion of the plug into the port.
 8. The enclosure system of claim 1,wherein the cable receiving port has an inner diameter and wherein thecable receiving port comprises a plurality of cable receiving ports inthe wall of the enclosure and displaced from each other by a distanceless than the inner diameter.
 9. The enclosure system of claim 1,wherein the axial retention member comprises: a retention spring movablymounted to the enclosure and having an engaged position and a releasedposition, wherein the retention spring has a retaining tab at an endthereof that is positioned to be received in an engagement member of aplug surrounding the cable when the cable with the plug thereon isadvanced axially into the port to the locked position and the retentionspring is in the engaged position to limit axial movement of the plugand cable out of the port; and a manually actuable actuator tab operablycoupled to the retention spring and having a first position in which theretention spring is free to move to its engaged position and a secondposition in which the actuator tab holds the retention spring in itsreleased position with the retaining tab removed from the engagementmember to allow the plug and cable to be moved axially out of the port.10. The enclosure system of claim 9, wherein the retention spring is agenerally V-shaped spring positioned in a chamber in the wall of theenclosure proximate the cable receiving port and wherein the actuatortab is pivotally coupled to the wall and has a first end in the chamberin the wall and contacting the V-shaped spring and a second, oppositeend extending into and accessible from the inner chamber, whereinrotation of the second end from a rest position to an activated positioncompresses the V-shaped spring into a substantially U-shape to displacethe retaining tab of the retention spring away from a centerline of thecable receiving port.
 11. The enclosure system of claim 10, wherein themating member associated with the cable receiving port comprises acutaway of the cable receiving port configured to receive ananti-rotation member of a plug surrounding the cable when the cable withthe plug thereon is advanced axially into the cable receiving port. 12.The enclosure system of claim 10, wherein the enclosure and the actuatortab are plastic and the retention spring comprises a metal.
 13. Theenclosure system of claim 10, wherein the cable receiving port comprisesa plurality of cable receiving ports in the wall of the enclosure andwherein the chamber in the wall comprises a plurality of chambers in thewall associated with respective ones of the cable receiving ports,wherein the plurality of chambers in the wall are in a removable sectionof the wall that is positioned in the inner chamber of the enclosure.14. A cable plug for use with a cable to be inserted in an enclosure,wherein the cable plug comprises: a body member configured to receivethe cable therein and having a sealing portion that is configured toform an environmental seal with a cable receiving port of the enclosurewhen the cable is advanced axially into the port; an anti-rotationmember that is configured to mate with a mating member associated withthe cable receiving port to limit rotation of the cable when the cableis advanced axially into the port; and an engagement member that isconfigured to mate with an axial retention member associated with thecable receiving port when the cable is advanced axially into the port tothe lock position to limit axial movement of the cable out of the port.15. The cable plug of claim 14, wherein the body member includes asubstantially cylindrical portion that is received in the cablereceiving port, wherein the cylindrical portion has an outer diameterthat is less than an inner diameter of the cable receiving port andwherein the anti-rotation member of the cable plug comprises aprotrusion on the cylindrical portion that has an outer diameter that isgreater than the inner diameter of the cable receiving port and whereinthe mating member associated with the cable receiving port comprises acutaway of the cable receiving port that has an outer diameter greaterthan the outer diameter of the protrusion, wherein the protrusion isconfigured to be conformally received in the cutaway when the plug is inthe lock position to limit rotational movement of the plug and whereinthe engagement member comprises a transverse slot in the cylindricalportion of the body member at an end proximate an inner chamber of theenclosure when the plug is in the cable receiving port.
 16. The cableplug of claim 15, wherein the sealing portion of the body membercomprises an O-ring extending around the cylindrical portion of the bodymember that slidably and sealingly engages the inner diameter of cablereceiving port to form the environmental seal when the plug is in thecable receiving port.
 17. The cable plug of claim 16, wherein the cablecomprises a fiber optic cable, the cable having a lengthwise cable axisand including a plurality of optical fibers, a strength member and atube surrounding the optical fibers and wherein the body member isconfigured to surround the tube and the body member further includes achannel configured to receive and retain the strength member.
 18. Thecable plug of claim 17, wherein the channel includes an inner end thatis configured to limit movement of the strength member into the innerchamber and wherein the body member further comprises a grip memberpositioned to facilitate manual grasping of the plug during insertion ofthe plug into the port.
 19. The cable plug of claim 17, wherein thecable is mechanically coupled and environmentally sealed to the plug.20. A method of inserting a cable into an enclosure, comprising:surrounding at least a portion of a section of the cable with a cableplug having an anti-rotation member and an engagement member; insertingthe cable plug with the portion of the cable therein axially into acable receiving port of an enclosure to a lock position without rotatingthe cable plug or the cable, wherein, in the lock position, the portionof the cable extends into an inner chamber of the enclosure, the cableplug forms an environmental seal with the cable receiving port, theanti-rotation member mates with a mating member associated with thecable receiving port to limit rotation of the cable plug and theengagement member mates with an axial retention member associated withthe cable receiving port to limit axial movement of the cable plug andthe cable out of the cable receiving port.